John Vignolo
Staff Writer
Eight employees were recently laid off from Pepperdine’s Information Technology Help Desk because of an effort to reorganize its system.
The IT Help Desk is located in TAC 180 and offers technology support for students, faculty and staff. On Nov. 1, IT Help Desk operations will be transferred to an outside vendor known as SunGard Higher Education, according to Chief Information Officer Timothy Chester.
The reorganization to SunGard Higher Education, based in Maitland, Flor., will include a name change to the Anytime Support Desk. SunGard and Pepperdine are spending this month working together to prepare for the transition. The Anytime Support Desk will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Chester said the mission of the IT Help Desk will stay the same, but the services provided by the Anytime Support Desk will prove to be broader, deeper and more responsive.
“This is particularly important for students who work full-time or study at one of Pepperdine’s international campuses,” Chester said.
He insisted the Anytime Support Desk will be a vast improvement.
“We believe the breadth and depth of expertise available through the Anytime Support Desk will surpass our own existing capabilities,” he said. “Over time this should result in a higher first call resolution rate and higher levels of end user satisfaction.”
Before the decision was made to transition to SunGard, an analysis of their services was conducted. This analysis showed that they could provide the services of the Help Desk at the same cost or lower over a three-year period, the standard length of a service contract.
“We expect a long-term relationship with SunGard,” Chester said.
The decision process to lay off the eight former Help Desk employees started back in April 2007 when the results of the annual Tech Qual+ Assessment revealed that professional and graduate students, as well as students overseas, felt they were neglected when it came to end-user support services.
“Over one-half of Pepperdine’s students are non-traditional in that they are either fully employed, studying from locations across the United States or throughout the world,” Chester said. “Information technology is expected to provide those students with the same support services that are typically provided to full-time undergraduates residing on the Malibu Campus.”
Changes were made to the Help Desk in the fall of 2007 as part of the plan to meet those expectations, but the needs of those students were not met and the department began to consider using an external vendor for the services.
“Though our data revealed some significant improvements the need for broad, deep, and responsive around-the-clock end user services was still not being met,” Chester said.
The recommendation to outsource to SunGard was approved by a unanimous decision by the University Management Committee. Approximately 20 universities use SunGard for helpdesk services.
Chester praised the former eight Help Desk employees who were laid off as a result of the transition.
“Each of these employees is a hardworking, dedicated, and loyal professional who, through no fault of his own, is now finding his life disrupted because of the need to support faculty, students, and staff in a 24/7 world,” Chester said. “We are working with affected employees in every way possible, including providing them with first consideration for vacant positions and making referrals for some employees to other departments at Pepperdine.”
According to Chester, no student workers were laid off because they were absorbed into other areas of the division.
10-12-2008
